Jack and the Cat
by owlman114
Summary: Ep.52 Jack and the Baby While Jack searches for the baby's meets a strange woman. When the baby is kidnapped, they must find him before Aku does... Crossover with another of my fics: Chrno's Crusade


Authour's note- This takes place during episode 52 of Samurai Jack (unofficially titled 'Jack and the Baby').

_This story is an offshoot of one of my other fanfics, _Chrno's Crusade_. Read _When Worlds Collide _and then _Chrno's Crusade _to get the whole story._

_As always, _

_Enjoy._

_-Owlman._

It was a dark and stormy night.

Except for the steady pounding of the rain and the occasional deafening _boom_ of the thunder and flash of lightning, nothing broke the almost melancholy reverie. Every living thing that lived above the surface of the oceans took refuge where they could; in houses, trees or caves, in the metal safety of ships able to go into orbit and those that traveled the seas, everywhere where there was a half-decent roof to be put over one's head was taken, the other four walls be damned if need be.

It was a dark and stormy night, and nothing broke the almost melancholy reverie of the rain, except for the occasional deafening _boom _of the thunder and the high-pitched wail of a sick baby's cry.

If you were to hear that cry and follow it, past the trees in the woods and over the gently sloping grasslands, through vales and around hills, you would find a man in a white robe, his black hair tied into a neat, simple topknot on the back of his head, the sword at his side sheathed, ready to be called upon at a moment's notice. And you would see him try to comfort the wailing babe in his arms, begging it not to succumb to the most hated enemy of travelers and homebodies alike: sickness.

"Shhh, little one. Do not cry," Samurai jack said as he tried to ineffectually shield the tot from the rain, "we will find you someplace dry and build a fire, and then I will find you something to eat-"

Jack paused, listening. From the relentless training during his youth, he had better reflexes and senses than nearly anyone else on the planet, human or otherwise. Those senses were telling him that something was wrong. His ears spoke of a ghostly wail, like a ghoul in the shadows, his nose and mouth detected an unfamiliar, but not unpleasant scent and taste. The boy evidently noticed it too, for he did not voice a whimper but looked around, eyes as wide as saucers.

Quietly the samurai walked, mindful of every twig that would snap and crunch underfoot and every leafy branch, heavy with rain, that would rustle and spray its bounty should he brush past it, towards the sound and smell. Even in the rain it persisted, the scent of jasmine and cherry blossoms, which made the noise all the more unsettling. He did not yet draw his blade, for he did not want to accidentally pervert an otherwise harmless situation by showing up holding a sword in one and a baby in the other.

Finally, when the sound and smell threatened to overwhelm him, he quietly pushed aside the last remaining bush, he saw something that tore at his heart, for it was a scene that he knew had been repeated many times before, and no matter how hard he tried to stop it from happening, he could not be in two places at once; and where he was not, his opposite was.

In the small clearing sat a woman with long, silvery hair, her back to the Samurai. From what he could see of her that was not obscured by her long locks, it appeared she wore some sort of silver body suit, but he could only see her shoulders. She sat sobbing in front of a pile of stones that Jack knew to be a grave marker. Jack could not be certain, but he thought he heard the word "Sister" over the rain. He stepped forward to get a clearer view, but a twig under his sandal snapped as he put his weight on it.

The silver-haired woman snapped around hissing, and Jack was met with the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her eyes were a light purple, with pupils' like a cat's, vertical slits of black that seemed to be able to engulf the universe like the monster did with the sun at times in the stories of his childhood, resulting in an eclipse. Her cat-ears that stood perched atop her head had flattened against her, an ancient biological response to an adrenaline rush so as to try and prevent the delicate appendages from being ripped off in battle. Her cheeks had tattoo-like black slashes on them, and her tail, which had been lying on the ground before and had escaped his gaze, now sprang like a taut wire, had similar bands around it.

"I am sorry to intrude upon your mourning," Jack said, trying to placate her, "Please, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Go away!" the woman screamed, trying to stand. Even in the darkness he could see a long gash running down the side of one of her legs, glistening wetly with blood. She stumbled and fell. When he moved to help her, she swiped at him with her claws, barely missing him.

"Leave us be!" she cried. At the sound of this shout the baby tucked in Jack's arm began to cry again. As Jack moved to hush him, a change came over the girl. She struggled into a sitting position and motioned for him to give the baby to her, which he did hesitantly.

Instantly the child stopped crying, looking up at her with wide blue eyes. "Silly men," she said to the babe, "they can't take care of babies." The boy gurgled in reply.

Jack was watching this little exchange with amazement when his senses once again told him that something was not right. The woman continued to talk to the babe, letting him play with her finger while he murmured happily.

At the far edge of the clearing a twig snapped. The samurai immediately went into a crouch, hand straying to the hit of his sword. The woman and boy immediately became silent, watching and waiting. An instant later a doe bounded across the far end of the clearing; evidently it had made the noise. Everyone relaxed from the false alarm.

And then all hell broke loose.

Suddenly from the branches of the trees surrounding them a hail of arrows and bullets came bearing upon the little group. Jack grabbed the others and managed to roll them out all out of the way as the ground exploded behind them.

Stashing them behind a nearby tree, the samurai withdrew his blade from its sheath, marked by a high _shinkt!_ sound. Ropes descended from the branches of the surrounding trees as the bounty hunters slid down them. There had to be a dozen of them, maybe more. Jack could tell from the sharp scent of metal and oil that these were robots rather than any organic species. Good.

They had evidently worked out a pecking order while lying in wait for him, because rather than rush him all at once they preceded one at a time. A big tank of an android that looked like a gorilla covered with spikes only not as cute was the first up. Its huge torso, molded to look like blocky chest and stomach muscles, opened up to reveal hidden missile silos that promptly emptied their payload at the samurai.

* * *

A few minutes later the fight was finished and Jack was standing amidst a graveyard of broken mechanics, dragging the length of his blade along the lip of his scabbard to clean it. He wouldn't have believed it while in training, but even fighting for your life and surviving only by your wits gets monotonous after a while. His robes were ruined, and there was nowhere within a great distance to get them repaired. 

His reverie was broken by the sound of tinny laughter. He turned towards the disembodied head of the gorillabot that had fought him first. He had decapitated it and given a fatal blow to a robot that looked like a giant praying mantis with machine guns that was trying to come up behind it. "What are you laughing about?" Jack inquired.

"Hah! You're such a fool! You fell right into Aku's trap!" the head cried, oily tears of mirth running down his face. Curious, Jack picked it up and held it at eye level.

"Explain yourself!" Jack ordered.

"We've been watching you for a while now, and know about that baby you've been trying to reunite with its mother," the gorilla replied, its chortling having died down some. "This attack was only a diversion to snag the kid!"

Jack dropped the head and ran towards the tree where the woman and child had been. What he saw filled him with horror. The baby was gone, sure enough, but it was the scene the kidnappers left that had him shaking with fury. Rather than just grabbing the child and fleeing, they had shot the woman in the stomach, her lifeblood and other vital juices seeping out of her slowly as she lay propped up against the tree. Her eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping.

Jack knelt and took her hand in his and pressed it to his forehead in grief. The woman slowly opened her eyes and looked at the samurai. She licked her lips and spoke, her voice a hoarse whisper. "I tried to protect… the baby, but they gutted me like this and took him anyway." A single tear of shame and regret rolled down her cheek as she said, "I'm sorry." Her breathing slowed and became shallow.

Then Jack remembered something from his travels. Once, Aku had tricked him and taken his sword from him, reasoning that not only would it strip him of his weapon, it would be fitting to kill him with it. But try as the evil wizard might, the sword would not cut the samurai's flesh. _"This sword cannot cut those pure of heart, Aku, for this blade is the embodiment of righteousness! "_ he had said.

If that were the case, would it work at the _other _end of the spectrum? Could it_ heal_ those in need of it? It was worth a try. He withdrew the sword and laid it across her stomach. Bending over it and clasping his hands, he prayed.

"Great Gods of the North, South, and far East, hear me," he intoned. "Send your divine grace to earth through this sword, that was made from the very essence of my father's righteous soul and saw many a battle with the Evil One, so that this woman may live!"

There was no beam of light coming from the heavens to illuminate the sword, nor were there angels singing. But when Jack opened his eyes he was staring into twin pools of lavender, each split in half by pupils like a cat's that looked at him in wonderment, his nose taking in the scent of jasmine and cherry blossoms. He sheathed his blade and stood up, pulling her up with him.

Though there was now a hole in the middle of the body suit, her belly was fully healed. They stood looking at each other awkwardly like that for a moment, and then Jack began walking past her, into the woods.

"Wait!" the woman called. "Where are you going?"

"To find the child," he replied.

"Well then I'm coming too," she said as she caught up to him. He stopped.

"No, you're staying here- it's too dangerous!"

"Believe it or not, when I'm not propped against a tree with a baby in my arms and a useless leg, I can take care of myself," she said, fur bristling. "Besides," she went on, the anger deflating, "It' my fault he was taken. Let me fix my mistake."

To this, the samurai began walking. The woman fell in behind him. "I'm sorry," she said, "I never asked you your name." The samurai replied without looking back.

"They call me 'Jack'".


End file.
